In traditional command line environments, users can navigate through a file system or data store using a containment relationship of the directories and files that are stored in the file system or data store. Users can also navigate across links that have been statically defined within that file system. These links may have been defined by the users themselves, or may come pre-defined when the file system is installed. In any event, these links may be characterized as static links, in that they are in some sense predefined and unchanging absent active user intervention.
In graphical user interface (GUI) environments, users may create icons that represent shortcuts to files, folders, or applications. By clicking or otherwise interacting with such icons, the user may proceed directly to the file, folder, or application to which that shortcut points, without browsing or navigating through an intermediate directory structure.